The Clippers return home to face the best team in the Western Conference after notching only their second road win of the year last night in Denver. ClipperBlog’s Charlie Widdoes, Breene Murphy and Jordan Heimer preview the first of four matchups with the Thunder.

1. What’s the most important individual matchup in this game?

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: Blake Griffin against Serge Ibaka. Iblocka is a dynamic defender — he comes in third in the league in block rate — with the length and athleticism to give Griffin fits. The Clippers can’t rely on jumpers like they did in Denver, so Blake’s ability to get to the hoop will be crucial if they are going to win.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: It seems like there’s more mismatches than matchups in this game, so I’ll go with Paul versus Westbrook. Both are crucial to each other’s teams and could learn a lesson from the other. If Paul is as aggressive as Westbrook normally is, I think the Clips win. Though if Westbrook is as aware and shares the way Paul normally does, then the Thunder are brutally tough to beat.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: Kevin Durant vs. Caron Butler. Although that “vs” glamorizes Butler’s role a bit. Caron will do his best to frustrate Durant with the same low-crouch hands-up defense he used guarding Kobe, preferring to be shot over than driven past. But the truth is the Clippers don’t have an obvious match-up that will bother Durant (who does, right?) At a certain point you kind of just have to hope he misses some shots.

2. Is there a better 6th man in the league than James Harden?

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: Not for my money. His offensive rating of 130 points per 100 possessions is off the charts. He is as well-rounded and efficient as scorers come, shooting 48% from the floor, 39% from downtown and 88% from the line. He’s capable of initiating the offense or scoring off the ball. He is a smart defender. Mo Williams might be the 2nd best 6th man in the NBA, but he is not Harden.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: This year, both Lou Williams and Mo Williams have been giving James Harden a run for his money so far. Jason Terry and Jamal Crawford have the wily vet experience from the bench. But overall, I’d probably want Harden. He’s been blowing up from the bench, he’s the youngest player of the group and he’s also the only one that could be a decent defensive player.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: No. It’s hard to imagine someone shooting much better so far this season than Mo Williams, right? Well James Harden has – and it’s not even that close. In a season where shooting accuracy for wing players is down across the board, Harden’s .672 true shooting percentage is ridiculous.

3. True or False: The Clippers take down the Thunder tonight.

Charlie Widdoes, ClipperBlog: True, but only if Chris Paul plays like he did in the 2nd half in Denver. He is one of the few guards capable of staying in front of Westbrook, but the Clippers will also need him to carry the load on offense. He must be his usual, pre-injury self to get his bigs involved in the flow and prevent Billups and Butler from feeling the need to create for themselves.

Breene Murphy, ClipperBlog: False. I know, I know. The Clippers had the Thunders’ number last year (even their only win in the first 14 games was against the Thunder), but this year’s Clip team isn’t last year’s. There aren’t good options to defend their wing players (Durant and Harden), and the Clips starters played a full load last night.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: True. Last year’s baby Clips split the season series with the Thunder, beating them twice at home. Last night’s victory in Denver was of secondary importance to the re-emergence of the Chris Paul we saw in the games just before his injury: aggressive, shot-seeking, relentlessly breaking down the defense with his dribble. More of the same tonight results in another big Clips win.

The best thing the Clippers have going for them in the matchups tonight is that the Thunder doesn’t have a center that can work Jordan the way Nene did last night (9-12).
Perkins is averaging 4.8 points per game.

I expect last night was a temporary thing for Billups because of the Denver crowd and tonight he’ll revert back to chucking up bricks. Paul often doesn’t play well on the second of back to backs since his knee operation, so I’m not expecting much from him either. Hopefully Bledsoe will get a lot of minutes tonight and will run through the Thundering Herd.

Butler I am expecting a good game from, since he usually has one after an off night.

Griffin could have a good night because he knows home state Oklahoma fans will be watching him. If he does, the Clippers win.

AH

I’m pretty sure Griffin was guarding Nene for portions of last nights game. And the easy buckets by Nene at the end are a result of guards not rotating down when Jordan has to rotate to cover a penetrating guard from the Nuggets.

Yesterday was probably an anomaly by Billups but I did see a slight improvement in judgement. And frankly, if Billups has a hot hand I’ll let him jack shots up (Sloan Conf. be damned).

I’m actually hoping Bledsoe takes Foye’s minutes at off guard and plays alongside Mo to mitigate his turnovers. Foye can slowly eat up Gomes’ meager minutes. Not an ideal solution but it’s the best rotation I think.

JaySee

But you always say mediocre centers have career games against DJ.

DeMote DeAndre

What I’ve often said is that even mediocre centers have one of their best games of the season against him. We’ll see what happens tonight. The Thunder have played 14 games so far in January, and working backwards Perkins’ scoring in those 14 went like this: 2, 3, 0, 5, 0, 7, 9, 0, 8, 2, 2, 8, 7, 7

JaySee

Yeah, so where’s your hatred filled declaration that Perk will have a season high game? You losing confidence?

californiaboy3

James Harden is ridiculous. Mo Williams has been superb for us, but James Harden is better mainly for his defense and size. His shooting won’t hold up, but he will still be a better player than Mo.

If they go one on one, I think Mo might get the upper hand- just too quick.

Metal Matty

The Clippers inability to play well when ahead will spell certain doom tonight. Playing from behind against the Thunder is just not going to get it done.

That said. If the Clippers come out ultra aggressive start to finish, daring the referees to pile up fouls on their stars at home, the Thunder may get out of their game at which point we insert Reggie Evans to keep the mayhem going while also absorbing the bulk of the fouls.

AH

Not to be a contrarian but isn’t playing from behind not the way to play against the Nuggets, too? Yes, there was a herculean effort by Billups but that also negated a subpar Butler and Griffin offensive effort and a mediocre Mo.

I’m curious to see if the voodoo witchcraft that Foye used to keep Durant in check last season is still there. It was the strangest thing watching our 3rd guard slow down the league’s premier scorer.

DeMote DeAndre

The Clippers can trade Jordan after March 12.

This is what I read on the subject at the Wikipedia site for The NBA salary cap, under the heading Trading and the Salary Cap. There is no other mention of anything there that even remotely touches on the subject. This is it. It even gives the reason for it, and according tho this reason, there is no way it would be next December and not this coming March.

“No free agent signed in the offseason can be traded until December 15 of that year or until *three months have passed* (whichever comes later), a rule that prevents teams from signing free agents with the intent of using them strictly as trade fodder. For draft picks this moratorium lasts 30 days.”

I think the Clippers matched Golden States offer to Jordan on December 12, and that would mean he could be traded three months after that, which is March 12.

Yes, Marc Stein said that he couldn’t be traded until next December, but Stein was wrong. He got confused by the December 15 thing and jumped to the incorrect conclusion about it being next December because he wasn’t aware of the three month thing.

AH

First, I don’t think Wikipedia is necessarily the most reliable information for things, especially as nuanced as the NBA CBA.

Second, while what you say is true, DeAndre Jordan was a Restricted Free Agent and came to terms as a result of matching an Offer Sheet. DJ’s conditions fall under matching an Offer Sheet and not the section you pointed out. All this salary cap stuff is quite confusing and if you don’t trust Marc Stein (who I imagine is pretty reliable if he’s publishing info since it has to go through fact-checking) you can always ask Larry Coon for a more definitive answer. But I imagine you’re going to find out it’s still the same scenario: DeAndre Jordan cannot be traded without his consent until December 12.

DeMote DeAndre

Golden state signed Jordan as a restricted free agent (the wikipedia article makes no distinction between restricted and non restricted, and it doesn’t make any sense that there weoul be a distinction for this question). Then the Clippers matched those terms (they didn’t do a new deal), so that should mean that what held for Golden State being able to trade him after 3 months should also hold for the Clippers.

It makes more sense that Stein was confused by the mention of December 15 and thought that meant December of 2012, not 2011 as it clearly did.

Also, the whole rationale for not being able to trade a player for three months is that it “prevents teams from signing free agents with the intent of using them strictly as trade fodder.” That would also apply to matching a signing sheet.

What would be that rationale for making them wait a full year? That’s four times as long. It makes no sense. It makes much more sense that Stein was confused by the first mention of December 15 and jumped to the wrong conclusion based on that confusion.

AH

Again, the CBA stuff is confusing but I’m going to try and definitively answer your question short of actually having a copy of the CBA in front of me.

1. There is a big difference between Restricted and Unrestricted Free Agent status as one offers a team the right the match and the latter has no limitations on the free agent. Since Wikipedia makes no distinction between the two, it is probably an incomplete entry.

2. From Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ, which I would argue is the definitive source of CBA information considering NBA teams use him as a resource: “[Teams cannot trade players] For one year after exercising the right of first refusal to keep a restricted free agent (however, the player can consent to a trade to any team except the team that tried to sign him).” Section 88. https://webfiles.uci.edu/lcoon/cbafaq/salarycap.htm#Q88

3. I don’t know what the rationale is for making teams wait a year to trade RFA’s that they retained but just because it the logic isn’t obvious doesn’t mean that a vetted reporter like Marc Stein is confused or misspoke.

Yes, reporters and news outlets can make errors but you need clear, explicit evidence pointing to the contrary before calling them out on it. Otherwise, you’re just creating misinformation.

JaySee

Stop citing wikipedia as a source. It’s not a source. If the information is at all true, it usually cites a source. Use that source. Anyone can edit and write a wikipedia entry.

JaySee

On paper the Thunder have an advantage in every spot except maybe PG. This SHOULD BE a blowout in the Thunder’s favor. Westbrook is physically superior to Paul, but not mentally, so +1 to the Clips, but everything else is a nightmare. Sef is a young, but not too young and long, the perfect specimen to stop Billups and can knock down the open 3. Durant vs Butler, yeah… I don’t even have to say anything. Griffin vs Ibaka, another perfect defensive matchup. Ibaka is everything Blake hates and BG’s inability on the defensive side will give Ibaka open 15-18 footers that he can knock down and alley oops. DJ vs Perk, Perk’s shorter, but bigger. He’ll work hard to not give DJ open looks and DJ will no doubt have to leave Perk wide open to help stop the wings. Mo vs Harden, Mo’s great, but Harden’s better.

Clippers only chance to win this is with 100% effort on the DEFENSIVE end. Let’s see what VDN can do when he’s totally out matched.

I wonder if a rope-a-dope strategy might work best against OKC. Let them go on a run, then rein them back in. Westbrook and Perkins are overly emotional at times and a game where they feel like they should be blowing out the Clips but aren’t might cause them to get tight and may frustrate them into turnovers late in the game, you know, CP3 time.

DeMote DeAndre

Orlando certainly won’t trade Howard before the All star game, which is in Orlando. The game is Februarty 26. Usually the trading deadline is the Thursday after the all star game, but this year they extended it to March !5 because of the shortened season etc.

Since Jordan can be traded three months after December 12, that fits in before March 15.

Marc Stein and Larry Coons work together and write articles on this stuff together, so I’m guessing they both got confused on it together.

Even Coons’s own artlcle repeats what Wikipedia said about the December 15 of last year or three months whichever is longer. So that is not in dispute, even by Coons.

Another reason I think Coons and Stein are both confused over this is that it make no sense to make teams wait a year after matching a free agent offer sheet when it clearly says that teams only have to wait three months to trade signed free agents.

Yet another reason I think they are confused is that when the Clippers matched the offer sheet back on December 12, Marc Stein himself then wrote an article reporting it and saying the Clippers wouldn’t be able to trade Jordan until March 12. That’s where I first got the information. So either Marc Stein was wrong when he originally said Jordan couldn’t be traded until March 12 or he was wrong when he said later Joran couldn’t be traded for a year.

I’m guessing Stein was wrong when he later said Jordan couldn’t be traded for a year, mainly because it fits in so poorly with everything else and makes so little sense.

JaySee

The writer who wrote that probably copy pasted it from Coon.

AH

Please provide a link to the Marc Stein article where you got your information.